


The Thought That Counts

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 7th year, F/M, Marriage Proposal, Not much reaally, and the lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28833159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: In the additional tags, this one is here bc my last one was deleted on accident 😭 pls Kudos and comment, that would do me a big favour, thx!🙏 p.s pls read to the end, i know the beginning part is crap, but it gets good, I promise✌️😌
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Enjoy life

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. COVID-19 absolutely sucks  
> 2.I’m Chinese, not all Chinese ppl r idiots  
> 3.don’t believe anything the news print about China that’s horrible, they’re actually making progress in getting rid of corona.  
> 4\. The USA (don’t come to me whining, Americans, it’s a fact) doesn’t want China to become better than them, which they are doing surprisingly fast 💨😎

Lily Evans and James Potter’s 7th year was a crazy one, one that they would laugh about for the few year that they would remain after. The start of term feast was delicious, as always, but the 7th years were particularly quiet, knowing this was their last year. Lily nudged her best friend, Marlene.

”I’m going to see to the first years, Marlene, I’ll see you later.” Marlene nodded glumly. Lily started waving over first years.

”first years over here, please, first years over here!” Once all the first years were all gathered up, lily and James took them all up to Gryffindor tower and dropped them off. She then flopped onto an armchair, looking at James, who looked as she did. The two had finally became friends at the end of last year, becoming closer than ever. Lily stood up and sighed. 

“I’m going to bed, I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow morning.” Lily said and went up to her new sleeping quarters. She went inside, hardy noticing where she was going and flopped onto the bed. she fell asleep, almost instantly.

* * *

She woke the next morning and sat up in bed. She got dressed and went to get breakfast she bounded down the stairs, determined to make this last year, the best of all of them. There wasn’t many people awake yet, so the hall was understandably empty, apart from the exception of Professor Mcgonagall, who looked up as she entered.

”ah, Miss Evans” she said crisply, “could you dome a favour?”

”of course professor, as soon as I have finished my breakfast.” Lily answered curtly.

Lily got started on her breakfast (bacon and eggs with sauce) and was just finishing as students piled in. Mcgonagall haded Lily the 7th year timetables and told her tho hand them out to the Gryffindors. Lily checked all of. Them and realised that James had all his lessons with her. A little bubbly feeling started up in her. She, like him, had feelings for him early on, they were just confused with hate, because James had bullied Snape. Lily kept on smiling as she handed them out, and when the bell sounded, she rushed off to her first lesson, which was with Flitwick. She sat down in a seat, furthest away from the desk, knowing James hated sitting near the back, so that he could cause some rouble, without being caught easily. Sure enough, When other students filed in, and James sat in the seat next to her. She grinned to herself and took out a piece of parchment and her eagle quill. As Flitwick squeaked about the protean charm and its uses, James wrote down a note on his parchment. Lily stared. Was he _really_ taking notes? he _never_ took notes. But then he handed it to her. Of course. She sighed and read the note,

_What do you have after charms?_

Lily rolled her eyes and wrote,

_I’ve already checked, we have all our lessons together._

James read the letter and his eyes lit up with anticipation and excitement.

_good, I don’t think I can last a da without looking at your eyes._

Lily smiled as the bell rang and the other kids stood up and rushed out the class, and Lily and James followed suit. They made her way to muggle studies, chatting the whole way and laughing. A feeling of contentment filled James as he walked with Lily. A few year ago, he had thought this would never be possible. But here he was, and in the spot. But he couldn’t help feeling a little thorn of doubt... They walked into Muggle studies and sat down next to each their and James pulled out 2 sugar quills and handed onto his hoped-for-future-girlfriend. Her eyes lit up when she saw them and accepted one with glee.

”I never understand how they make these lessons boredom-proof”James commented as their muggle studies professor walked in.

* * *

That night, he went to bed and as he lay in the dark he came to a decision. he was going to need some training if he ever wanted to date Lily Evans.


	2. Woe and sadness brings no hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jams starters dating some other girl to get some ‘experience’. But he doesn’t realise that this could permanently damage their friendship...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh. Why don’t I ever get comments? Don’t think of me as ungrateful, it’s a fact. My last one had barely had anyone viewing. Meh. i don’t care. I mean, who does? I don’t.

The next few week that led up to the winter break was bliss, or so lily thought. James and Lily met up every Thursday to study for muggle studies and the other subjects. James felt more and more awkward with every week. After the Christmas break, Alice dashed into the 7th years girls dorm, were they were all chatting and looked up.

”what’s wrong, Alice?”Mary asked. Alice held up a finger.

”James. Potter. Is. dating. Georgiana. Yaxely.” Alice huffed, “Just. Saw. Them. In. The. Common. Room.”Lily felt as though a giant rock had just crushed her chest. James? date Yaxely? She didn’t believe it. He had told her a few days before Christmas break that the ideas on blood purity meant nothing to him and never will be. But Georgiana Yaxely was one of the people who held a grudge against muggle-borns like her. The past few days were torture, walking through the school, as everyone around her stared and whispered, spat and cursed all around at her. And the fact that Yaxely was a pureblood? That nearly made Lily cry. 

“Are you sure, Alice?” Mary asked, “didn’t potter run after Lily for about four years? Lily’s finally admitted she liked him and he runs off with another girl. that’s hardly fair!” Everyone looked over to Lily she looked down at her lap, tears about to spill over.

* * *

The following weeks, Lily was escorted by al her friends through the school. Thank _goodness_ Hestia had the same subjects at the time as her. She might not have managed through the the day without any of her friends around to support her. On the weekends, Lily avoided him all over again, until her friends talked her into making her presence known. The only flaw was seeing James with a another girl was like going under the cruciatus curse. It tore her heart apart. She even stopped doing the point deductions. She only registered detentions, which only took 15 minutes of her time. The res was dedicated to homework. It wasn’t until January was ending when James finally approached her, a sodding Georgiana at his side. Lily as just coming out of her newly scheduled one-to-one lessons with Flitwick and met with Marlene, when she heard him calling her name.

” _what?_ ” Lily spat, Marlene at her side.

”I was wondering if we could meet up to study for the Muggle Studies essay.”James asked, coolly. Lily looked at him. There was a look in his face that clearly said, _We need to talk about this._

“Ok...” Lily said, suspiciously.

”what about it then?” James asked,”back to our usual Thursdays?”

Lily didn’t miss the glare Georgiana shot him when he mentioned ‘back to our usual Thursdays’.

It apparently didn't set well with her that Lily and James had a weekly meet up before she'd come along. And no doubt Georgiana was well aware of how James had once pined after her. It pleased Lily to see her uncomfortable or even worried for once, though there was no real reason for Georgiana to be.

"No, I've rearranged prefect duty since we got back from holiday," she explained. "I'm afraid I'll only be able to do it on Saturday this week."

The truth of the matter was that Lily could be free on Thursdays if she wanted to be. However, she'd overheard in the girls' loo that James was taking Georgiana to Hogsmeade this weekend from a couple of the seventh year Gryffindors. Suddenly her Thursdays got all booked up.

Perhaps she should have felt guilty for her catty behavior, but Lily couldn't quite bring herself to, at least not where Georgiana was concerned. She'd watched from afar since January and saw Georgiana on multiple occasions laughing as one of her friends or her sister called other Muggle-born students "Mudbloods". Lily wasn't foolish enough to call James' girlfriend out on it when she was surrounded by her Muggle hating friends. If this—denying her a date with James—was the only way Lily could get back at her for now, then so be it.

" _James_ ," Georgiana hissed.

He groaned, frustrated. "Can we do it in the evening, Lily?"

"Sorry, I've promised to tutor Thomas from third year then."

"Well can't you cancel?" he asked.

"What do you have going on that's so important on Saturday?" she spat, knowing full well the answer.

"We're going on a date," Georgiana answered for him.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess you're just going to have to choose between a date and passing Muggle Studies then, _Potter_."

Georgiana looked up at James fiercely, who appeared to be shocked from Lily's use of his surname. "You don't need that rubbish class anyway, James. It's not important."

Not important? Lily had to resist the urge to strangle her. She shouldn't have been surprised to hear something like that from Georgiana, not with the Yaxley family's well known anti-Muggle doctrine. In fact, Georgiana's younger sister was known to be a part of Avery and Mulciber's crowd. But even equipped with all that knowledge, Lily couldn't help but resent Georgiana for her comment.

"Don't say something like that," James said, shrugging her off. "It _is_ important."

"Oh, honestly, people only take the class as a soft option or because they're Muggle lovers."

A fight brewed in James; Lily could tell by his sudden tension and the scathing look he sent Georgiana. The use of the word "Muggle lover" had set him off. Lily sniffed as Marlene snorted.

”Go get someone else to study with _P_ _otter_ ” Lily snapped,” and with that, she and Marlene turned on their heel and stalked off.

* * *

”I don’t get it,”Lily complained to Alice that evening," he said himeself that people that hate people like me are nothing but a pile of dung, why can't he realise that his own _girlfriend_ is one of _those_ people?" Suddenly, the door creaked open, and a _sheepish_ James Potter peeked round the door. All the girls raised their wands and pointed them at his face.

"Oi!"he whispered,"look, i'm not armed, lower your wands before Yaxely realises im up here!"

They all stared. Not only did he call Georgiana, Yaxely, but loked nervous, frightened even. 

"look, I've just canceled my date with her, and if you're free to go to the library, I'll meet you there." With that, he turned and left, closing the door behind him. All the girls turned around to look at Lily, who looked more shocked than they felt.

* * *

When ten o'clock rolled around that Saturday and James walked into the library, Lily couldn't help but feel victorious. He looked a bit worse for wear, which she could only assume was due to Georgiana voicing her disapproval of his decision to remain behind.

"We need to go somewhere else."James said, quietly.

"What for? This is where we usually meet."

"Because the two of us need to talk," he explained.

Understatement of the century. Lily didn't bother to pretend otherwise and gathered up her things, following James out of the library. They walked in silence, searching for the privacy of an empty classroom.

"Have you thought of a topic yet for this essay," she asked, as they walked into a deserted room.

"No, not really," he replied, his kindness forced.

"Hmm, guess it's kind of difficult to give it any thought when your girlfriend has her tongue down your throat all the time."

His look was scathing. Lily didn't care; she'd been waiting for this moment of confrontation for almost two months now. For weeks she'd been rehearsing exactly what she was going to say to the toerag the moment she got the chance. There hadn't been any point in rehearsing though because, in her anger and sadness, she threw the script out the window.

"How about this. You could set the essay up in a how-to format and write something catchy like, 'The Pureblood's Guide to Making a Mudblood Think You Care.' Or maybe even 'Charming a Muggle-born Before You Crush Her Heart, For Beginners.' You're really well versed in those areas, after all," she suggested sarcastically, tears pooling in her eyes.

"You think I purposely led you on?"

"What else am I supposed to think?" she spat. "You spend the last few years trying to get me to go on a sodding date with you, and when I'm finally ready, you start dating someone else!"

"It didn't happen like that, Lily."

"Then enlighten me! Tell me why you started dating someone else the moment you got confirmation that I fancied you."

"Because I fancied you back, alright?!"

Lily's retort, the one she'd been preparing for whatever he'd said next, died on her lips. James still fancied her? While she expected to be relieved, or even elated, Lily was more confused than before.

"That doesn't even make sense, James."

"Do you honestly think that a relationship between us would ever work?" he asked sincerely.

Why wouldn't it? Sure, they had their differences, but all couples did. And yes, they argued to the point of wanting to throw hexes at each other, but, well, that didn't mean anything. They would be fine. Probably. Maybe…

"I guess I always just assumed…"

"I don't doubt that we could have a seriously amazing sex life, Lily. And I'm the first one to admit that for all those years I spent chasing you, I had shagging on the mind. But when I got to know you, _really_ got to know you, I knew that I'd never be able—"

"—to make me your fifteen minutes in a broom cupboard," she finished for him, softly.

He nodded. "It would have been so easy to kiss you when you asked me to, but I didn't want to lead you on, knowing that any sort of romance we had would never end well. And fuck if it wasn't hard. When I left your house over the hols, I knew I had to do something, and so I decided to distract myself with Georgiana. I thought it would be best if I forced myself to move on."

"Oh…"

Silence filled the room then. Lily wasn't sure what else to say. He'd basically told her she didn't have a chance in hell with him. It was a miserable feeling knowing the one thing she wanted most, she couldn't have. Trying to just be friends was going to be incredibly difficult, but maybe with some space and a little time she could do it.

She avoided his gaze, choosing to look at anything really, so long as it wasn't James. Lily knew she should just excuse herself and leave—he probably wouldn't fault her for that—but moving seemed like such an impossible task at the moment. From the corner of her eye she saw his hands clench and unclench, and heard a heavy, miserable sigh escape his lips.

"I think about you. When I'm with her. When we're…"

Lily looked at him immediately. "What?"

"The other day…we were…and I was…I sort of said your name. You're not exactly her favorite person at the moment."

As best she could, Lily tried to fill in those blanks. He and Georgiana were doing something, and he said her name when he was… Oh, God! Her cheeks burned, probably making her face a bright cherry red.

"But you have her. Why would you want someone like me?"

"Describe someone like you," he said, disbelievingly.

"Ordinary, temperamental, a certified Charms junkie. I'll never be as pretty as her or well bred. And I'm a Mugg—"

"Stop. I've heard enough rubbish."

James approached her, and just when she thought he was going to stop, he moved closer and closer until only a small gap separated them. James cupped her chin with his hands and tilted it up so their eyes met.

"You are gorgeous, Lily Evans, far more than she could ever hope to be. You're anything but ordinary. If by Charms junkie you mean bloody brilliant witch, then I'm inclined to agree. And don't you ever, _ever_ bring up your heritage as a reason why you're inferior to someone. Blood purity means _nothing_ to me."

She struggled to hold back her tears. It was too much to manage though, and Lily broke down. James smoothed away her tears with his thumbs. No one had ever said anything so nice about her before, had ever made her feel so special. The urge to kiss him nearly overtook her senses, but she knew that it couldn't happen. Even so, that didn't mean that they couldn't address it, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 😎


	3. Dark Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everythings back to normal, and yaxely's an idotic jealous dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! thanks to the people who left a kudos. 😊  
> ✨💎💎✨💎💎✨  
> 💎💎💎💎💎💎💎  
> 💎💎💎💎💎💎💎  
> ✨💎💎💎💎💎✨  
> ✨✨💎💎💎✨✨  
> ✨✨✨💎✨✨✨  
> Shining heart for you

It pleased Lily that things were finally back to normal between her and James, or at least as normal as they could be. He began sitting with her again in Muggle Studies and walking with her between shared classes when Georgiana wasn't around. Georgiana was, however, more often around than not. Ever since James opted to stay behind on that Hogsmeade weekend, she had barely let him out of her sight. And when she did catch James and Lily together, she threw Lily dirty looks.

Lily tried to ignore it for the most part, staying out of her way as often as she could, but it was sometimes difficult since they were both in Gryffindor. By word of mouth, she knew that Georgiana was no friend of hers, but she'd never actually heard the older girl talk about her until she was walking through the courtyard after lunch one day in late March.

"—the way she looks at James! Ugh, I would love nothing more than to use an Unforgivable on that stupid bint."

"And look who we have here, the girl herself," a girl said, and Lily recognized the voice as belonging to Georgiana's sister.

Lily turned to face them against her better judgment, tired of being talked about. Georgiana was sitting on a bench with her Slytherin sister and their mutual friends. It didn't surprise Lily that most of them carried anti-Muggle sentiments.

"I've been dying to get alone with you for weeks now, Evans," Georgiana said, approaching her. "Seems like you're sensible enough to be afraid of me."

"And why would I be afraid of you exactly?" Lily asked with bite to her words. "You're about as intimidating as a Cornish Pixie, Yaxley."

"Is that right, _Mudblood_?" she retorted, arching one finely manicured eyebrow. "I can think of several reasons why you'd want to shut that mouth of yours. My family has connections, you know."

"To the Dark Lord I'd wager."

"How dare—"

Lily pulled her wand upon seeing Georgiana's friends take a few steps in her direction. "Oh, I dare."

"Stay away from James, Evans. Or you'll regret it."

"He's my Muggle Studies partner. I can't do that as you very well know."

"You might like James, but he'd never stoop so low as to even kiss a Mudblood like you. He has _some_ class. So if I so much catch you looking at him, I'm going to see to it that you live a very hard life for the rest of this school year. Someone like you can never compete with someone like me. Last warning."

Lily wanted to say something witty in return, but the only thing she could get to form on her tongue was incantations that would earn her a week's detention. Georgiana Yaxley wasn't worth her time. Turning on her heel, Lily walked away, though not before overhearing a nasty slur come from Georgiana's mouth and a chorus of laughter from her friends, when James rounded the opposite corner just in time to hear. His eyes narrowed.

"what was that, Yaxely?"

She wirled round and her eyes widened.

"oh, Er--- nothing!"she simpered, putting on a very fake sile that made Lily want to vomit.

"Don't let me hear you say that again," James threatened, glaring at her and her eyes filled with shock and fury.

"She has you under some sort of love spell, I know it. You'd never lower yourself to her level otherwise."

"I'm not under any sort of spell, Georgiana."

She looked at him disgusted. "So you actually fancy the Mudblood back?"

"I told you not to say that word!" he shouted, and Lily could tell, even from behind it was taking all the self restraint he had not to draw his wand on Georgiana. "And I never pegged you for a Muggle-hater, but I guess it does run in the family. Silly me."

"How could _you_ of all people—a pure-blood—be in support of Muggles and Mudbloods? They're barely human, James, and they certainly don't deserve a place in our society. We'd be better off with them dead so they don't pollute our blood lines. Surely you understand that."

Lily wanted to disbelieve was she was hearing, but the fact of the matter was she'd heard those sentiments so many times before that it didn't surprise her. Everyone would be better off if she were dead, would they? How she tired of hearing it.

"Get out of here," James ordered, his voice low and threatening.

"My pleasure. As if I'd want to be seen with the likes of you, blood traitor." Georgiana turned her attention to Lily's retreating back and raised her wand.

"NO!"James yelled. Lily whirled around, her hair flying. Time seemed to slow down. Everyone's attention was drawn to the flying black ball of magic, that was directed at lily, and drew breath as one. Lily let out a scream and tried to run, and it hit her, sending her flying backwards and hit the wall opposite. The pain raced up her arm and across the right side of her chest. Lily'd never quite felt pain like this—searing and maddening—and it was only getting progressively worse. the whole courtyard went into uproar. Georgiana turned, and tried to leave, when people rushed forwards and blocked her way, while the other half rushed over to Lily, who had just fallen unconscious. 

"someone get Mcgonagall!" someone yelled and a small group of third years rushed off, clearly eager to leave the scene, returning 10 minutes later with Mcgonagall and Madame Pomfrey, who magicked up a stretcher annd lifted Lily onto it.

* * *

Lily woke up a few days later, a burning pain in her arm. A worried face was looking down at her, a grin plastered across his face.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!"James shouted gleefully, swooping her into a rib-cracking hug.

"All right now, Mr. Potter, the girl needs her rest!"Madame Pomfrey bustled over. Lil pushed herself up on her pillow as James politely told pomfrey to shove off. 

"what happened?"Lily asked.

A scowl filled James' face.

"yaxely hit you with a sort of dark spell. Dunno what it was, it's unidentified. Anyway, Yaxely got a 4-week suspension, and now everyone's talking about it. Of course, the Slytherins are laughing their stupid heads off, receiving detentions left, right and centre." Lily chuckled. 

"Serves them right!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ☁☀☁☀☁☀🍃  
> Have a good day  
> 🎶🐣 🐣 🐣🎶  
> 🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🐛


	4. Safety first, Danger last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the night before the end of year feast, Lily is out patrolling, before a gang of Slytherins sneak up behind her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey there!  
> ⭕⭕⭕YOU⭕⭕⭕  
> ⭕⭕👇👇👇⭕⭕  
> ⭕⭕👇👇👇⭕⭕  
> ⭕⭕👇👇👇⭕⭕  
> ⭕⭕👇👇👇⭕⭕  
> ⭕⭕👇👇👇⭕⭕  
> ⭕⭕👇👇👇⭕⭕  
> 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇  
> ⭕⭕👇👇👇⭕⭕  
> ⭕⭕⭕👇⭕⭕⭕  
> ⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕

On the last week of Hogwarts for the 7th years, Lily and James, (the newly formed couple) were understandably glum. She walked down to the Heads office, wanting to sort the affairs before she left Hogwarts, not for the last time but for her educational career. As she walked, she thought she heard someone following her. She whipped around, looking at her surroundings. She backed away, starting to pick up the pace, before somone shouted, 

" _crucio!_ " 

Pain. Unlike anything Lily had ever felt. Knives, pressing into her skin, dull, throbbing, aching, like her nails were being ripped from her fingers individually, as if her limbs were being pulled to breaking point, white-hot pokers pressed to her face. On and on and on it went, without end, her hair pulled from her scalp, her teeth yanked out one by one, burning eyes, twisting stomach, everything was wrong, everything was pain—

And then it stopped.

She lay on the ground, dazed, Sirius' pale face hovering over her. Peeves swooped over, cackling with laughter. 

"Naughty, naughty unforgivably naughty!" He screeched, tipping a bucketful of white ink over the culprit. Or rather, culprits. Mulciber, Avery, Regulus Black and Snape was running away, as fast as they could, trying to rid themselves of the crime scene when Filch appeared, wheezing, and caught the sight of white ink on the floor. 

“More cleaning for me! No, this is the last straw I’m going to Dumbl-“he looked around and spotted the four Slytherins, who were cowering behind a large stone statue of a hump-backed, one eyed witch.

“Oho! Curfew breakers, More detentions for you!” He cried joyfully, as Lily and Sirius headed towards the hospital wing, him supporting her. Sirius did not thought twice about bringing a semi-conscious Lily to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey had insisted on informing the Headmaster. Sirius in turn had informed his best mate through their two-way mirrors. Judging by how quickly James appeared in the Hospital Wing, Lily would’ve said he Apparated, if she didn’t know any better. He had fussed over his girlfriend (“How much pain are you in? Is there anything I can do? Any illegal substance I could get you to make you feel better?”), demanded the entire story from Sirius, and politely told Madam Pomfrey to shove it when she asked him to leave Lily to rest. When Dumbledore finally showed up and the story was recounted to him, the Headmaster had the heart not to ask what Sirius was doing out of his dormitory past curfew or how he had found Miss Evans. He had also asked them to keep the story to themselves for the time being. James had been furious.  
“But Professor, they could’ve killed Lily if Sirius hadn’t shown up. It’s unacceptable that they shouldn’t be punished for it.”  
“Slytherin should at least lose all their points,” Sirius suggested matter-of-factly.  
But it had been Lily’s feeble voice to answer. “Boys,” she said with a tenderness no one would’ve expected her to use with either of them a year before. “If the people who attacked me truly are working for Voldemort, we cannot waste the opportunity to watch them as closely as we can. Professor Dumbledore should not even consider expelling them, or even punishing them in any way if we don’t want them to think the administration knows they’re up to something.”   
Dumbledore only nodded at her words, and Lily went on. “Let them think we didn’t even report this… incident.”   
“Incident?” Her boyfriend repeated incredulously. “Your near death is an incident, Lil?”   
She shook her head. “Better me than a younger student. Although,” a smirk finally growing on her bruised and exhausted face, “I will dock points from Slytherin for every and any infraction, no matter how small, starting tomorrow, leading up to the end of the year. Nobody attacks me from behind and wins the House Cup.”   
That earned a high-five from Sirius.   
“Our Head Girl illustrated the point brilliantly,” Dumbledore said. “The staff will be informed, but I would rather you keep the events of tonight for yourselves.” And with that, he left, his robes sweeping the floor around him.

The Hogwarts gossip mill was a real pain in their asses. As some of the most prominent students, they were frequently mentioned in conspiracies and rumors that made no sense. Everything had become worse after they’d started dating and become somewhat public about it. (Not that Lily had let the Marauders announce it to the entire Great Hall after their successful first date like they’d intended, mind you, but students – and teachers – who paid enough attention could notice them holding hands in the corridors, and most of Gryffindor house had seen them exchange goodnight kisses on the staircase of the boys’ dormitory for the past few months now.) It was no big secret that Potter and Evans were dating, but they still tried to maintain it somewhat quiet to keep the gossip to a minimum. Last month, two fourth year Ravenclaws claimed they had witnessed Lily cry in a bathroom and spread the word that the Head Girl and Boy and fought and probably broken up, neither of which had happened, thank you very much. Lily had received about half a dozen invitations to the next Hogsmeade weekend in the next few hours and James about a dozen more before they even started having suspicions people were talking about them. You had to pay attention to gossip to hear those sorts of things, and Lily certainly did not have the time to talk about people’s lives.

“James, I swear to Godric, they’ll be saying I’m pregnant or something if you don’t put on a smile, eat something and share a joke with Sirius this instant.”   
Startled by the idea of having to fuel down such a rumor, James only replied “Yes ma’am,” before complying.   
The two remaining Marauders had of course been informed, because there were no secrets among them, and Lily’s closest friends Marlene ,Mary, Alice and Hestia had simply been told that a Slytherin had hexed her and that she had dealt with him. It had been easy to find an excuse for her absence in bed the previous night (James had been happy to volunteer as the excuse) but harder to explain why he had made it to class and Lily hadn’t. Everyone just assumed she had comedown with something and the cure took an entire day to finish.

* * *

The end of term feast was a gale of gleeful laughter for the 7th years. Now of age, and new Hogwarts graduates, they felt excited to play their part in the world outside of Hogwarts’ walls. The house cup winner was announced, which turned out to be Gryffindor, and the Gryffindor table erupted, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw clapping, grateful that it wasn’t Slytherin, but disappointed it wasn’t them.

The Seventh Years wanted to make the Last ride on the Hogwarts Express an eventful one, along with the old witch who sold the snacks, giving every seventh year free snacks, people giving a wide berth at the front of the train. There came exploding noises from exploding snap, gags from Bertie bots, and bangs from the fireworks some idiot set off, which took the form of a lion, galloping it’s way down the train and biting at Slytherins. when the train pulled up to platform 9 3/4, they all jumped off, hugging and bidding people goodbye, as they set forward towards their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 💗🙈


	5. The proposal (5 months later)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s pretty much in the chapter really.... anyways, I hope you’re all fit and healthy, we’re all in this together! ^3^

Lily was now a proud Hogwarts graduate, and an excited adult in the magical world. She had turned 18 only a week ago and in the six months that she had been a Hogwarts graduate Lily had gotten a flat with her friend Marlene McKinnon, secured a job making much needed potions for the Auror Department, and enjoyed a successfully deepening relationship with her boyfriend, James Potter. Throughout all of this she had been as active a member of the Order of the Pheonix, a group dedicated to defeating the dark wizard Lord Voldemort and ending the current magical war, as much as she could afford. Dumbledore had only revealed it to them a month earlier, warning them that if they didn’t accept, their memories would be wiped. They immediately accepted As she sat across from James in the Leakey Cauldron she tried not to blame herself for being in such a good mood, she deserved to enjoy herself, she was sure of it.

James, for his part, was not focused on any of that. He wasn't worrying about whether or not he should be in a good mood for two reasons, one was that he never worried about those things. Work hard play hard was in his DNA and he was known to forgo sleep in favor of a late night at a pub with friends, especially after an Order mission. The second reason was that he was too nervous to worry about something like that. As if the ever present bulge of a jewelry box in his pants weren't enough, his friends were being about as obvious as one could get and constantly dropping hints. Thankfully Lily, tired after a week of potions brewing, didn't appear to notice.

"Well I propose," Sirius said loudly, slamming his drink on the table and winking towards James. "That we all make our way back to the flat for some firewhiskey and the rest of Mrs. Potter's cake!"

"I too propose," Remus said with a devious smile. "That Sirius, Peter, and I go take care of the bill with Tom while you two go back to the flat."

Peter was giggling uncontrollably and James groaned, his friends were idiots. Complete and total idiots. Positively dense. "You do whatever you want to do," He said, standing and helping Lily out of her bar stool. "We're going to head on home."

"Yeah you are," Peter said, causing Sirius to bark with laughter.

Noticing that Lily was beginning to question the Marauder's odd exchange, Remus decided to speak up and usher the couple out of the pub. Fun and games was great and all, but they had no intention of ruining James and Lily's night. After all, it was supposed to be a rather big night for the two of them.

"Okay, okay, that was fun but Lily dear, you look like you could use a lie down," Remus said, slowly moving the two of them to the door. Once they were outside he clapped his hand on James' shoulder, "You take care of her, you hear?"

To most, Remus would sound like a concerned, but amused, friend but James knew better. Remus had been friends with Lily for years as well, and the statement meant more than 'don't let her puke on the street'. James nodded, his jaw set for a moment before he turned to grab Lily's hand. The couple walked in silence for the first little while before Lily spoke up.

”how’s that project for the Auror department?”

”ok,” James answered, gruffly, “damn it," Grumbling as he held the door open, and walked with Lily up the stairs. "Those idiots only-" When they reached the door to his flat, James stopped Lily for a moment. "Can you just pretend you have no idea what's about to happen?"

Lily's heart rate had increased exponentially at James' response. At first she was worried that she had scared him, but it quickly became apparent that she had guessed right. This is it, he's going to propose! She was giddy with anticipation and could only nod at James' request. She couldn't help it, James was a grand and romantic man, and a man she loved wholeheartedly, she could barely guess what he had planned. She bit her lip softly, trying to suppress her excitement.

James opened the door wide for Lily to see the room he'd spent hours preparing. For the first time since they'd moved in, the Marauders common room was clean. He'd lit the room with floating candles, and the ceiling of the room had been charmed to see the starry night above. A floating quartet set played music on their own, leaving the happy couple to their privacy as James shut the door behind them.

"It's beautiful," Lily said, astounded. She'd seen James and his friends do all sorts of amazing magical feats, but she couldn't help the surprise she felt. She felt her eyes tear up and cursed her habit of happy tears. "James, it's- it's just wonderful."

James grinned, pride, fear, and excitement battling for control in his chest. He knew she would say yes, but he couldn't help the irrational fear that she'd say no, that she'd laugh at him. She was perfect, far too perfect for him. Certainly she would realize that and run far away from a life with him.

Not giving himself time to whimp out, are you a Gryffindor or what?, he knelt down to one knee. As he took a deep breath and prepared to propose, he remembered her father when he'd asked for his blessing.

"Hullo, James, how can I help you?" Mr. Evans asked, sitting in the common room of the Evans' home after his wife welcomed the young man into their home. At the nerves so clear on his face, Mr. Evans had an idea as to why James was there, but he didn't say anything. "I don't imagine you're here to pick up Lily, she's been moved out for a little while now."

James chuckled nervously, running his hand through his hair out of habit. In the wizarding world, a man asked for a father's permission with his parents alongside him, as proof that the woman would be well taken care of and respect for the older generation. Muggles, he'd been told, didn't have such tradition. The man asked his significant other's father alone, no support system behind him. It could be worse, Mr. Evans did like James. Still, it was a precocious thing to ask, and James felt every bit like an 18 year old as he stood before the accomplished man.

"I'm here to ask your blessing," James said, ignoring the pounding in his gut as he did so. He was brave, damn it, and he'd fight obstacles far more dangerous than this for Lily. "I would like to ask for Lily's hand in marriage, and I am hoping for your blessing before I do so."

Ah, he'd been right. Mr. Evans smiled warmly at the young man before him, he remembered when he'd asked his father in law the same question. Though he hadn't asked so eloquently, and he'd been wearing ripped jeans and a leather jacket when he did so, not an amusing but wholehearted attempt at muggle professional attire. "And if I give it?"

Though Mr. Evans had full intention of giving James his blessing, he wasn't going to do so without talking to him first. This was his youngest daughter he was talking about. Still, James was already doing better than the whale, Vernon, who hadn't even spoken to him about his intentions to propose to Petunia, much less asked for his blessing. And Vernon had been 23 at the time, not 18.

James felt his heart sink, but he tried his best not to show it. His father had warned him "Mr. Evans won't just give you his blessing," he'd said. "He's going to want to talk to you first about your intentions with Lily, you need to prove to him that you're going to do right by his daughter." He hated that his dad was right, but he couldn't blame Mr. Evans. Lily was precious, and her life was not to be taken lightly.

"Then I will do everything I can to make her life the best it can be," James said with confidence. "Though," He smiled warmly, "I'm sure I'll never make her as happy as she makes me."

"Somehow I doubt that, son," Mr. Evans said with a smile. "I've known Lily her whole life, she's never been as happy as she is with you." He gestured to a seat, there was no need for James to remain standing. "Please, sit," Mr. Evans smiled as James rushed to do as he asked. "Now, Lily tells me you're going to become a police man?"

James bit back his usual quip to that assumption, Aurors weren't mere coppers. He wasn't an Auror anymore though. He'd made it through training, but though they were excellent wizards, the Aurors simply weren't doing enough for the war. It had driven him mad, and after a fight with a fellow Auror about their ineffectiveness in the war efforts, he'd quit. Assuming Lord Voldemort was brought down, James was going to be an Auror again one day, but for now...

"No, actually," James said, unwilling to lie to Mr. Evans even though he knew Lily would support it. "As you know, there is a war going on against You-Know-Who. I joined the Aurors, but my efforts are better put towards fighting the war. "

Mr. Evans was surprised to hear James talk like he did, jaw set and eyes determined. He'd never seen a man so... proud to be jobless. "So you're unemployed?" He asked flatly, unable to hide his disappointment in that. He had no expectation that Lily would be a docile housewife anytime soon, but with marriage came children, and if James was jobless...

"Yes sir," James replied, his voice calm but his throat closing in fear. "I am a full time volunteer in an organization dedicated to fighting the war."

"A vigilante?" Mr. Evans had asked, "So you still live at home with your parents?"

"No, a warrior," James said. "In the wizarding world we-" he didn't know how to put it, he was worried about being condescending, but Mr. Evans' response made it clear he did not understand. He knew it would kill the point of what he was doing, but he wished Lily was there. "Most of what I do is as a first responder, which isn't a paid position. It's needed, though. And to answer your question, no, I don't live with my mum and dad. I live with my Hogwarts roommates, Remus and Sirius."

Mr. Evans remembered James' three friends when he'd picked up Lily at the end of her 7th year. Though he liked James, and James clearly made his daughter happy, he felt a growing concern about the young boy before him. Unemployed with two roommates and fighting separate from the government...

"Mr. Evans, you don't need to worry about me providing for Lily," James said in a rush, earning a raised eyebrow from the man in front of him. "The Potter's are... relatively wealthy and I will go back to being an Auror as soon as this war is over. I can't divert my attention right now, You-Know-Who is attacking muggles and muggleborns. I can't put any less than all of my attentions to that, sir. With all due respect I'm doing it for Lily, and you, sir."

Mr. Evans nodded, he'd fought in war himself, participating in the end of the second World War. It hadn't occurred to him that the wizarding world wasn't using an army like the muggle war had. It seemed that the war was fought by volunteers, and he could hardly argue against the nobility of what James was doing.

"I understand, and I'm sorry I questioned you like that." He said, ignoring James' insistence that an apology wasn't needed. Feeling the weight of danger he hardly understood and definitely could not control, Mr. Evans changed topics with a mischievous, boy like smile. "So once you're married, Lily will move in with you and your friends?"

"Of course," James replied without thought. He could think of nothing better than living with his friends and wife, except maybe if Peter were able to join them.

Mr. Evans laughed, deciding to leave that argument to the children. "Well, you seem to have a solid head on your shoulders. You have my blessing, son."

James grinned widely, "You won't regret this, sir."

"Lily Evans," He asked, taking her attention from the beauty in the room to his kneeled stance on the floor. "Will you-"

He was interrupted by her kiss, her arms wrapped around him as she knocked him down. She couldn't believe it, she was marrying James Potter!

"Lily!" James almost yelled, laughing as he did with a grin on his face. "You have to let me finish!" He felt himself laugh again when he saw her face, not giggle, as that was certainly not manly. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes!" She giggled, not worried about being mature, before kissing him again. This time he didn't fight her, pulling her close he ignored the rambunctious noise of his Hogwarts friends coming in and setting off fireworks. They could burn the flat down for all he cared, he'd done it, and now he was going to marry Lily Evans!


	6. The announcement.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Engagement party! 🎉

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m getting really bored, being cooped up at home. 😕

"I still don't understand why we can't have it at our flat," Sirius muttered to himself, pouting in the kitchen of Marlene and Lily's flat a week after James proposed.

"Because you burned it down," Lily snapped halfheartedly. "Now shoo, or at least do something productive."

Sirius moved, but he didn't stop pouting. Lily and James had gotten engaged the previous Saturday, and they still hadn't told their parents and extended friends. James, of course, had wanted to go tell everyone, in person, that night, but Lily had talked him out of it. Now that they were telling everyone, after enjoying a week to themselves (and their roommates), James had insisted on a dinner party for their family. Knowing when to pick her battles, Lily had agreed, but insisted it be at her flat as opposed to the Marauders'. She would have preferred to do a dinner party after letting their families know, but the prankster she was marrying had always enjoyed a good surprise. "It's repaired now, c'mon, it's not too late."

With 30 minutes until she announced to her parents that their 18 year old daughter was marrying an unemployed 18 year old with 3 roommates that had just burned down their flat, Lily seriously disagreed with Sirius' statement that 'it's not too late'. She merely glared at him, and he seemed to catch the message as he backed away slightly.

"My parents will be here soon," She said, mostly to herself, as she looked around her kitchen. She finished putting up dirty dishes from lunch before putting her hands on her hips. The food would be served on their kitchen bar (though she couldn't do anything for it until the food was there), extra toilet paper was in her (now even more so) spotless bathroom, her bookshelves were neatly organized, the trunk in their common room that served as their coffee table was filled with freshly cleaned blankets and pillows, all copies of the prophet were safely tucked away in Marlene's room, the carpet surrounding the floo was perfect... She trailed off, but couldn't come up with a single thing to do besides wait for James to come back with Remus, Peter, and Marlene with the catered food.

"Lily, calm down," Sirius said, and at Lily's glare he maintained his resolve. "If you don't I'll turn into Padfoot and get fur and drool over everything I don't eat."

"Bad dog," Lily snapped, but she gave in and joined him in the common room. She sat in silence for a moment, tense in opposition to Sirius' calm lounge, before standing up and heading to the front door.

"Lily," Sirius groaned in exasperation. He liked Lily, loved her like a sister even, but he'd never understand her constant need to be in control. She had to have everything perfect, if she ever saw his room she might have a heart attack. Of course, that might be good for her, force her to slow down. A nice mandated stay at St Mungos...

"I completely forgot to clean the welcome mat!" Lily exclaimed, running to the front door and closing it behind her as she beat the welcome mat on the stair rail. Happy it was clean, she set it back down perfectly and walked back into the flat. "That would have been a disaster."

Sirius could barely contain his eye roll, "Why didn't you just use magic?"

"For starters, this is muggle London," Lily explained, for what she felt was the millionth time. "I can't pull out my wand on the street. Also, doing it the muggle way calms me."

Sirius remembered that Lily was in muggle London very rarely, as he usually came through the floo, but when he did he was reminded of the frustration of moving her to muggle London. She and Marlene had gotten a furnished flat, which saved them the trouble of moving all of the furniture the muggle way. Still, they'd had to bring the fireplace up to code before they could connect it to the floo network. Doing that required more than tripling the small thing in size, and though her landlord was hands off, they'd also been required to charm it so that muggles would see it as the original size. That had been only the beginning of troubles. James had brooded for weeks after Lily had argued with him against the more powerful warding spells because it affected the electricity (whatever that was) that the muggles needed. It was also why the catering company wouldn't deliver the food. (To this Lily had argued that she could cook the food, something that even a blind man could see she did not have the time for. Not to mention that Lily was not a very good cook.) Lily waved her wand and conjured up two tables and put them side by side, putting a table cloth on as well. at that moment, a knock on the door sounded through the flat. Lily jumped and rushed to open the front door. Mr and Mrs Evans stepped trough and across the threshold.

"Mum! Dad!" Lily exclaimed, smiling brightly at her parents. "Thanks for coming, you're the first ones here!"

Mr. Evans looked to the teenagers in his daughter's common room with amusement, "What about your friends?"

Lily hugged her parents, "They're here all of the time anyway, they don't count."

"You wound me," Sirius said, clutching his right hand to his chest as if he'd just been hit with a stinging hex.

Peter laughed, but quickly sobered himself as he joined in. "And after we helped you move in, we don't count."

"We're not second class citizens, you know," Remus said with a tell tale grin. It was Marlene who put an end to the Marauders antics for Lily.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Evans," She said with a bright and welcoming smile. It was interesting for Sirius, who'd -not 24 hours ago- been seduced by the witch, to see Marlene transform into the perfect, well behaved witch she was now. "Ignore the heathens, we try to limit their caffeine but..." She trailed off, "How are you?"

The parents laughed, but it was Mrs. Evans that spoke. "Very well, I'm happy to see that Lily has so many friends to depend on. She's so busy lately, with her work at the Arurs."

"Aurors, mum," Lily corrected casually. "And I'm fine."

"I'm not saying you're not, honey," Mrs. Evans said. "Just that it is good to have friends."

"Very good," Mr. Evans said as James walked out of Lily's room with slacks and a tucked in button up shirt. "Would you mind introducing us?"

"Oh! Sorry! Of course," Lily said, smiling at James briefly as he welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Evans and grabbed her hand. "This is Peter, Remus, and Sirius." She said, "They're here all the time, I forget that not everyone knows them."

"It's not- oh my goodness!" Mrs. Evans said, watching the Potter's appear in the room by floo. "How- Lily dear, how did they fit through the tiny fireplace?"

"Oh," Lily said as James and Sirius turned to welcome their parents to the room. "It's bigger, but we charmed it so that muggles can't see how big it is. For my landlord."

"Ah," Mrs. Evans said, adopting the habit of assuming that everything Lily said about the magical world was normal. She wondered then, alongside her husband, how much they missed about their daughter's life because they were muggles.

"Mr. Evans, Mrs. Evans," James said, walking up with his parents. "These are my parents, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter."

Mr. Evans had never met anyone with such odd names, and had no idea who was which name, so he smiled warmly and shook their hands. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Harrison, and this is my wife Emma."

"Nice to meet you, Emma, Harrison," Mr. Potter said. "I assume you two also have absolutely no idea why we're here?" He asked with a wink, much to the annoyance of James. Mr. Evans laughed, understanding now where James got his humor.

"Oh, absolutely none," Mr. Evans confirmed, though with a look at his daughter's ring finger he smiled. "Or, maybe a few."

The parents and friends laughed, leaving Lily and James to look at each other in common annoyance. "If only to stop these terrible jokes," James said. "Lily, we should go ahead and tell them now."

Lily nodded, not needing to summon her Gryffindor courage while surrounded by happy friends and family. "We're engaged!"

Both mothers gasped despite knowing exactly what Lily was going to say, though it was Mrs. Evans who spoke first. "That is fantastic news! Can I see the ring?"

"Of course," Lily said, blushing as she put her hand out for her mother to see.

"It's gorgeous," Mrs. Evans said, looking at the ring with a smile. "And vintage."

"It's a family ring," Mrs. Potter said. "It suits you, Lily."

Lily beamed at the praise, "I love it, it's a gorgeous ring."

As Lily showed the women her ring, the men were gathered around the food. As they served themselves Mr. Potter spoke to his son. "So you finally asked her?" He laughed, "I'm surprised I didn't get an owl that you burned something down in the process."

James flushed, thinking of the damage Remus, Peter, and Sirius had done to their flat. Before he said anything, Mr. Evans spoke.

"Not that I'm not excited or anything, but, I'm not sure I'd classify it as 'finally'," Mr. Evans said awkwardly as he began to eat.

"That's because you haven't listened to James here for the last 8 years," Mr. Potter said with a warm smile. "On his first letter he completely forgot to tell us he was sorted in Gryffindor because he spent the whole thing talking about Lily and his new friends. It's been like that ever since."

Mr. Evans watched James with a newfound respect. He'd known that James had annoyed Lily when they were younger, but he'd had no idea how long he'd loved her.

Feeling awkward under the attention, James made his way to his fiance. He handed her a butterbeer and casually listened to the conversation before getting pulled in.

"...is a beautiful time of year and I know a tent rental place that provides climate control tents. Even with a blizzard no one will feel uncomfortable," Mrs. Potter said enthusiastically.

"That's a great idea," Lily said, nodding alongside Marlene when she did. With a bright look at her mum she realized that while they could use them, they'd have to be more subtle than dancing in a blizzard. "Of course, we couldn't be so obvious as to use them in a blizzard..."

"I doubt there will be a blizzard in April," Marlene said, noticing that Lily was already worrying.

Lily nodded, squeezing James' hand when she did so. Unlike the others, Mr. and Mrs. Potter were confused. "I- I don't- why..?"

"My family is all muggle," Lily offered as an explanation.

"And they don't know..?" Mr. Potter asked, continuing at Lily's head shake. "What did you tell them about Hogwarts?"

"Boarding school?" James said, exasperated. His parents were not blood purists by any means, but they were absolutely unaware of muggles. "Uh, statue of secrecy mum and dad."

"Oh, sorry dear," Mrs. Potter said, looking ashamed alongside her husband.

"It's, uh, it's no problem," Lily said. She knew Mr. and Mrs. Potter meant well, but she felt bad and hoped her parents did not feel uncomfortable.

Lily's parents never felt uncomfortable but that night, they wouldn't have defined themselves as comfortable either. Neither cared, though, because they would deal with that and much more for their daughter. Despite her magic, Lily had never been anything but the perfect daughter. She hadn't gotten detentions, she'd excelled in school, she'd behaved and acted polite and composed at all times. It was amazing to see their completely organized and in control daughter so carefree with James. He brought out the best in her, and when they left both Mr. and Mrs. Evans were very happy to welcome James into the family.

"Well that was thrilling," Sirius complained that night as Lily and James cleaned up.

"You're just upset that there wasn't firewhiskey," Remus critiqued. "Lily, don't listen to him, it was great."

"Thanks, Remus," Lily said, taking a seat next to him on the couch when she and James finished cleaning. "I was worried but everything worked out."

"I never realized, but James, your mum and dad are old," Marlene said, munching on a plate of food as she spoke. "Honestly, how old were they when they had you?"

James shrugged, "I don't know."

"You wouldn't call Mrs. Potter old if you'd seen her chase James and Sirius around," Remus said with a well natured smile. "She's older, but she's more than capable."

Peter nodded, "You should have seen her when she caught them in their ani-" His eyes jerked to Marlene, and Sirius smacked Peter.

"Shut it, Peter," Sirius said.

Remus sighed, "As fun as this is, and as much as I hate to agree with him, Sirius is right. We could use some firewhiskey."

"Let's go then!" Sirius said, already at the floo. "The Three Broomsticks is open for hours!"

Sirius' enthusiasm was magnetic, and soon everyone had their coats on. Everyone, that is, except for James and Lily.

"C'mon," Peter said. "If we hurry up we'll be there in time for half priced shots."

"I think we're going to stay behind," Lily said, leaning into James on the couch. He appeared to be whispering something in her ears, and she blushed when he did.

Marlene, who had walked in on Lily and James one or two times in the past, knew better than to stay. Lily was now whispering to James, and the both of them were a happy shade of pink. "Let's go everyone, give the love birds some privacy."

Later that night, sated and comfortable, Lily and James lay in her bed. They were both smiling brightly, as they tended to do. They had never managed to actually have sex that night, though they tried, because they couldn't stop laughing.

"Seriously though, imagine, Sirius making his speech, completely filled with stag jokes, and Peter, Remus, Marlene, and your mum and dad just having a fit while everyone else just thinks he's 'a little special'." Lily laughed, "OH MERLIN, I just realized, James, James, Jamie-" Lily seemed too amused and excited to get to her point.

James laughed, she was so cute when she was like this. "What, Lily?" He said, smiling and doing his best to take in her every feature.

"They're gonna put together your stag party!" Lily bust out laughing as she did, her eyes watering.

James, who had never been a huge fan of puns or word play like Sirius, couldn't help but admit that his stag party was probably going to be a riot. Still, he also couldn't help but tease his soon-to-be-wife. "You know, with your love of puns, maybe you should marry Sirius."

As James laughed Lily gave a very convincing mock-thoughtful face. "You know, you may have a point- I bet you he's in Marlene’s room-“ She got up to leave the bed, but she didn't get far before James playfully pulled her under him.

"Oh no you don't, you took the ring, you're mine now," He said with a wide smile. "Until death do us part."

"And you know what," Lily said, completely serious now. "I wouldn't have it any other way."


	7. Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparation. I’M STILL BORED IN HERE😣

"Absolutely, it's really just the reception hall we need to find," Lily said. "Potter's have gotten married at that place for generations, and the community around it lives with muggles."

"That'll be perfect," Marlene said, sitting at the dining table in her and Lily's flat going over the planning for the upcoming Potter wedding. As Lily's bridesmaid she expected a lot of work, but she didn't expect to actually have to do much of the planning portion. Her first hint for that, outside of knowing Lily throughout 7 years at Hogwarts, was when she'd seen their table covered in bridal magazines early that Saturday morning. "So where are you thinking for the reception hall?"

"The problem is, we can't have it somewhere very far from the church. There is a park in Godrics Hollow, but I don't know how much that would be, or if they'd even let us rent out a pavilion."

"The pavilion? Will that be big enough?" Marlene asked, looking up from the pictures Lily had taken when she and James had toured the town a couple of days before. "How many people are you inviting?"

"That's the other problem, we don't have a guest list yet," Lily said. She groaned, "James keeps putting it off."

"Well knowing the Potters, it may be a large list," Marlene said.

Lily, who hadn't yet thought much about the family she was marrying into, dropped her head onto the table dramatically. The red head would argue until the day she died that getting engaged to James Potter hadn't changed her, that she was an independent woman, but Marlene had never seen Lily be quite so dramatic until after she fell in love with the one and only James Potter.

Instead of pointing that out to her friend, because she could do that later, Marlene tried to help. "Well, whats the base line?"

Marlene pulled out a piece of paper to write it out on, but it appeared that Lily already had a list out. She'd made a chart on a muggle spiral notebook that had grid lined paper in it. Names, addresses, and muggle vs. magical all listed out.

"Well there's you, and Sirius, Peter, Remus, Alice and Frank, my mum and dad, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, Petunia and Vernon, Fabian, Gideon, Aunt June and Uncle Richard," Lily trailed off, reading them silently and counting the number on her fingers. "Thirty-ish?"

When Marlene said, "Well, the Potter's are gonna outnumber the Evans' 2-1, at least!" Lily felt her chest constrict. One hundred people? That couldn't be possible, absolutely not, it was ridiculous. Absolutely insane.

She took a deep breath, something she'd always done when she began to feel overwhelmed. She could do this, she had Marlene, and James, and she was sure that the Marauders would be more helpful than harmful, probably. As far as budget, they could do it. Sure, she wasn't making a lot of money, but the church wasn't going to charge them and her mum and dad offered to get the dress. That left food, reception, and invitations. It would be a lot, but she had savings. Not to mention that they could do a lot of the wedding themselves; she knew plenty of charms that could be used for clothes, makeup, music, and James' transfiguration skills would surely be helpful. She let out her breath, they could do this, she could do this.

* * *

"Uh, Prongs, what is Lily-Love doing?"

"I think she's finally gone mad."

"It was about time-"

"-Oi! That's my fiancee you're talking about!"

"Oi! All of you! Shut your traps and listen!"

"Thank you, Marlene," Lily said gratefully, smiling at her Maid of Honor. They were now exactly 5 months before the wedding, and so the wedding party was gathered at Lily's flat. The Marauders, who were the groomsmen and had been invited by James, had been under the impression that they'd been gathered for a small get together. (Read: Party) The bridesmaids, who had been invited by Lily, were under no such impression. In fact, they all thought it was hilarious that the boys had thought that Lily was hosting a small get together. (Read: Party) It wasn't that Lily didn't host parties, though she did usually leave that to the Marauders, but that they'd shared a dorm with her for years and knew better than to think that Lily would be 'laid back' when it came to her one and only wedding.

"Okay, just to get everyone up to speed we are 5 months from the wedding. 28 April, 1979, and we have a lot of planning to do." Lily said, "Over 100 people are coming, and at least 20 of them are muggles who know nothing and cannot know anything about magic.

"Tomorrow morning Alice, Marlene, and Mary will all come with me to look at wedding dresses. Muggle shops will require at least 5 months so we can be certain the dress will be done, and since my mum is buying that means we have to find a dress tomorrow. We're all meeting here where my mum and dad will pick us up in her car. James, you and the groomsmen will sort out your dress robes tomorrow, you made that appointment, right?"

"Yu-hu," James said, smiling at Lily. Sirius smiled as he rolled his eyes at his best mate, he got all sappy eyed whenever Lily 'took charge', it was a miracle he'd gotten through his 7th year.

"Brilliant," Lily said, smiling at him brightly. She turned behind herself then, pulling out a large bag stuffed with envelopes. "I stuffed them and sent off the Save the Dates to my muggle family, but these still need to go out. Can you help me take them?"

James stood up, "Sure." He didn't think twice about it as he accompanied Lily out of the flat, leaving the wedding party behind them. Not only had he not been listening to Lily, but they were all friends and fellow Order members. They'd always spent time at each other's homes as if they were their own, so leaving them all in Marlene and Lily's flat was anything but abnormal to him.

"That numpty," Mary said after they'd left. "Didn't even think twice about leaving us here."

"It's for the best," Remus said. "He'd never have left if he suspected."

"Out of curiosity, do you have an appointment tomorrow for your dress robes?" Alice asked.

"We'll be fine," Peter said, not answering her question but waving her off. "Madam Malkin loves us."

Marlene rolled her eyes, but she had more important things to do than nag the groomsmen. "So, staggette party."

"And stag," Sirius said, grinning like mad while the Marauders held their heads in shame. James, the only Marauder not there was also the only Marauder who enjoyed puns.

"Yes, let's plan," Marlene replied, and Alice giggled madly.

* * *

"James, we really need to sort this out, you can't just drag me off." Lily complained as her fiance led her away from the park that she'd taken him to Godric's Hollow to see. It was a muggle owned park, beautiful in it's own right, and it had the car space needed for her muggle relatives. However, as they'd seen when they'd arrived, it was a popular park, and they needed to get their reservation in soon. "Really, this is time sensitive."

James heard her, he really did, he just didn't listen. He led her to a small, quaint home despite her arguing (though she wasn't pulling on his hands at all, and didn't seem to be arguing as much as she usually did). He slipped around back, leading her to the backyard of the home.

"James- James! What- you can't just-"

"Calm down Lily, Merlin, I've spoken with the owners, they don't mind," He said. It was only a white lie, really. He was the owner, and he'd certainly cleared the backyard visit with himself. A lie of omission. "I thought we could do it here," He said, gesturing to the rather grand backyard.

Lily had grown up in a middle class home in a middle class neighborhood. She'd seen white picket fences, freshly cut grass, and trimmed bushes her whole life. What she hadn't seen was a yard as beautiful and amazing as this one. True, it was overgrown, but she was used to looking for the magic in something. Unlike the small, neatly groomed trees of her childhood, this yard had huge, old trees that dominated the skyline. She could already imagine small lights dangling between them, a dance floor in the center of the space, with circular tables all around.

Her mouth gaped open, "James, this would be-"

"-I know," He said, watching her amazement with pride. "It's open, we can have the reception here, I've already cleared it."

"Wow- James, how much would it cost?" She asked, "I mean-"

She was already thinking of the solutions. Guests would park at the church, and walk over to the home so close by. The bathrooms in the home had to be nicer than those at the park, and with something more out of the way, not to mention private, their reception would be able to be more. More theirs, more time, more beautiful...

"That's the best part!" James said, grinning madly. "It's free!"

"What?!" Lily asked, more than shocked. "You can't be-"

"-But I am!" James replied, "So what do you think?"

Lily smiled, "Oh, James, I love it!"


	8. Queasy budgets

With a date, time, and location set things seemed to move along much faster than the young couple could have predicted. Before they knew it they were sitting at a small table in a caterer's building, praying to anyone they could that this vendor would allow them to have wait staff for a reasonable budget.

The reasoning for it was simple, why would a magical caterer have wait staff? They had magic, and magic couldn't call out, or trip, or overcrowd a venue. The few caterers they'd found with waitstaff used house elves, another option they could not use with muggles in the crowd. They didn't have picky dietary restrictions, but they did have picky staffing restrictions.

Of course, it wasn't just the staff needing to be there. The caterers needed to be prepared to interact with muggle guests, and casual mentions of magic would not be tolerated. It was because of that that Lily and James found themselves at that particular caterer's building, because they boasted preparations for things just like that.

"We require all of our staff to be excellent in muggle interactions, because of our high standards most are muggle borns, though we have a few squibs." The woman who ran the company, slightly portly with a no-nonsense control over things, smiled as she spoke. "We get a lot of couples like you, they don't want to preform memory charms, but they need vendors that are aware of magic. With us you get the best of both worlds, food is served on plates that keeps it at the right temperature, but they just look like normal plates and they're served by normal waiters."

"That is perfect," Lily said, looking up from the brochure that Sally, the woman in charge, had given her. "And the food speaks for itself."

James nodded eagerly, he'd enjoyed his food perhaps more than he should have. "The chicken especially."

"The chicken is a favorite," Sally replied.

"And what is the pricing like?" Lily asked, noticing that the brochure lacked that necessary piece of information.

Sally reached for their form where they'd filled out the meal they'd like to have, "With these selections, it will be around 4 galleons 16 sickles a head, with additional fees..." She filled out the chart with other information, and handed it to them to see. "It will be 812 Galleons 5 Sickles 19 Knuts, now that does include an estimated tip."

Lily and James were shocked by the total, even though it was less than the quotes they'd gotten from other caterers. They kept hoping they could find someone cheaper, but the reality was sinking in that they simply couldn't. 137 guests were a lot, and add to that the complications of keeping the magical world a secret...

They left the meeting with weak smiles and a concern for their budget.

* * *

"No, absolutely not," Lily replied over dinner. "We're not-"

"You can't pay for this wedding alone," James replied fairly. "And we're not looking at taking from the main Potter vault, just mine-"

"-You're not making any money, I won't have our lives take more from that vault than goes in." Lily snapped, then she softened. "I respect that you're working for the Order, which happens to mean our budget for the wedding is tight, but we're not dipping into your inherited money for this. We'll have to sort something out, invite less people-"

"-My mum'll claw her own eyes out before she invites one less person," James replied. "And when we tell her why we've cut the list, she'll insist on paying for the whole wedding."

Lily groaned, glaring at her spaghetti. How were there politics in wedding budgets? How had her life come to this?

"We'll just have to sort something out, then," Lily said, thinking in her head if she could take more shifts at work. Maybe sell potions on the side? She had her license, it was perfectly legal... She'd certainly have to figure something out, because James seemed done with the conversation, and had turned over to talking about the war.

* * *

As the wedding grew closer more and more things needed to be done. James had noticed, with more than a little trepidation, that the task list for the first 9 or so months of wedding planning (which reminded him, who could manage to wait a year or more to get married?) was shorter than the task list for the last 3. He didn't care though, anything she could throw at him he would do, with a smile.

The same, however, could not be said for Petunia Dursley nee Evans. James watched as Lily paced the floor of her shared flat, waiting for her older sister to arrive. He sat beside her other bridesmaids; Marlene, Mary, and Alice. They all watched their beloved red head pace with sympathetic gazes. It was thirty minutes after Petunia had agreed to meet (for the day had been planned around her schedule, as opposed to Lily's) with the other bridesmaids, and she still was not there.

It was the ring of the phone that called Lily's attention from her rigorous pacing, pulling her to the kitchen.

"Hello?" She asked, confused when it was not her mother who answered.

"What are you!?" Petunia asked, "I'm at the shop now, you really should have gotten here early."

Lily was not surprised that her sister had called her without introduction and with a snappish attitude, in fact, it didn't even really occur to her. "At my flat, I thought you were picking us up here?"

"What?! Vernon wouldn't drive your freak friends, Lily," Petunia said, sounding scandalized.

"Okay, okay," Lily said, not wanting to argue. "We'll be there soon, what's the address again?"

"You'd better be, and don't come flying in on broomsticks!" Petunia snapped, hanging up the phone.

Lily put the phone back on the hook, sighing before speaking. "Okay, so Petunia is not picking us up. There's an alley behind the shop, though, and I should be able to side along you guys there."

The bridesmaids shared a look, but no one argued, and Lily took her turns apparating them to muggle London under the safety of shadows. Before she brought the last bridesmaid with her James gave her a kiss and a hug, hoping that Petunia wouldn't ruin her mood.

The bell on the door rang softly as Lily, Mary, Marlene, and Alice made their way inside of the muggle shop. It was a shop that Petunia, who was melodramatically berating the group to her husband, had picked out. If the bridesmaids hadn't known before, they would have assumed by the many cookie cutter dresses, and women with tight hair and poorly faked smiles. As they looked around at the muggle attire, no one felt excitement at the bridesmaids dresses they would end up wearing.

"Tuney," Lily said, smiling brightly at the sight of her sister. "And Vernon, it's great to see you."

Petunia's gaze clearly disapproved of how fast her sister had arrive (she didn't know how the younger woman had done it, but knew that she hadn't traveled by natural means) and she didn't smile back. "They're waiting."

With that she stalked off, Vernon slugging behind her, assuming that the bridesmaids would follow. She led them to a small changing room where a tall, severe looking woman glared at them while she thrust dresses their way (only listening to Petunia's advice). The woman, who never introduced herself but Petunia called Jane, rolled her eyes at the wedding colors (periwinkle blue and salmon pink), and mentioned repeatedly that they simply didn't have the best dresses in those colours. 

In the end, not only had they ended up with dressed that none of them liked, but Petunia had managed to ridiculously enrage every single witch she wasn't related to. As they left the store, receipts in hand to pick up their dresses in a month, Alice was amazed that Lily wasn't steaming. In fact, Lily seemed in as good a mood as any.

"Lily, how are you so calm?" Alice asked, "After Petunia-"

"-Alice, Petunia is always like that," Lily said, shrugging it off. "And those dresses are wierd, I know, but now we're one step closer to me marring James, and," she said, giving a mischevious grin that left no doubt that she was a Marauder's bride. "now I know I'll have something to laugh at."


	9. Messed up beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedding dress

"This-" Alice found herself without words. "Well, Lily, you picked it out and-"

"-It's bloody terrible, don't lie to her," Marlene said.

"It's proof that Lily should not be allowed to shop alone," Mary agreed. "How did you even get your mum to agree to pay for this monstrosity?"

"Be nice! It's for her wedding!" Alice protested, "And if Lily says it's the dress, then it's the dress."

"Well, after the horror of dress shopping I can see your point," Marlene commented.

Lily sighed. She had her dress set up on a manikin (it had only been an extra 2 pounds!) and wished that she hadn't already done a lot of work to the dress to get it where it was at that moment. "Shopping at the normal shops didn't work out, Tuney just wasn't in a good mood-"

"-Bloody cunt," Marlene muttered under her breath. Alice dropped her mouth open in shock but Mary and Lily were used to the witch's potty mouth and chose to ignore her.

"-But I found this at a thrift shop and, well, it's gorgeous!" Lily gushed.

Mary, who'd sat beside the others while Petunia berated and insulted Lily until she ran away from the 4th dress shop bawling, wondered what the shopkeep who Lily had bought the dress from had thought. To hear Lily tell it she had found the shop while (bawling) looking for a deserted alley to apparate home from. She'd then walked into the shop (tears and all, Lily wasn't a pretty crier) and declared she wanted the moldy dress from the manikin out front.

"It's, um, a little green," Mary observed.

"Green is one of the wedding colors!" Alice said, as if defending Lily's choice of mold decorating her dress.

"Oh come off it, I know it needs to be cleaned," Lily said with a huff. "And my mum didn't pay for it, I did. It was 15 pounds."

"15 pounds for a wedding dress?" Mary exclaimed, shocked.

"How much is that?" Alice asked, confused. She'd never really caught on to muggle money, but she had a feeling it wasn't much based on the blunt reactions of the others.

"It's 5 galleons," Marlene explained. "Approximately. Which, for a wedding dress isn't much but what Lily bought doesn't really count as a wedding dress."

Lily walked over to the dress and smiled, wishing everyone could see it like she did. Yes, it was an older style and the dress itself was in bad shape. It was dirty and a little moldy and had a lot of the pearl details missing but they had magic. It was a little big but that was easy to fix. The dress had good bones. It had a pretty V neckline, sleeves that fitted about halfway down her bicep and then flared out, and pretty lace and silk ribbon detail throughout. This was the dress, she was sure.

"I know you don't like it, I know you can't see it," Lily said. "But I can, and I'm telling you, this dress just needs some love."

Alice felt Lily's eyes on her and sighed, "Why're you looking at me?"

"Because you're the best at clothing alterations!" Mary exclaimed. "I do hair and makeup, Lily knows the charms to stop nip slips and stains, Marlene scares away irritating people, and you do the clothing alterations."

Lily gave Alice a pleading smile, "I can do it but it's my wedding dress and you're so much better than I am."

"Okay, okay," Alice said, regretting her summer jobs at the Magical Seamstress. She focused on the dress, "Let's get the mold and dirt out." She waved her wand and smiled at the work. Without dirt it was easy to see that the dress was a pretty stark white. With Lily's pale complexion and bright red hair it would be gorgeous. "And a simple repair spell... reparo!" As she waved her wand around the dress began to fix the ripped lace and loose pearls.

Everyone gasped at the changes two spells had made. The dress was no longer limp and lifeless, as Alice's cleaning charm had essentially dry cleaned it. The tears brought it back to its original shape as well, something that only Lily had been able to see before. They also noticed now that the dress was just a little sheer at the waist and hem of the bust. It would show off Lily's porcelain skin without being revealing. After hearing James' rant on the last late, drunk night at Hogwarts about how Lily's skin (not her smile or legs or breasts, or anything else you would expect from a man) was her best quality everyone agreed it was a nice touch.

"That... did not require as much work as I thought it would," Marlene said.

Lily smirked, much like her future husband did, with pride. "I told you. We still need to do more, I'd love to get an anti-sweat charm on it and water and stain repellent, and then Alice can you help me put in a bra charm? I hate bras and can't imagine being so uncomfortable at the wedding but it might be too much like negligee without it."

"I can do that, no problem," Alice said. "Merlin, Lily, how did you know?"

"The same way she knew about James," Mary said. "She always finds the diamond in the rough."

Lily smiled, ready then to send a 'before' picture to her mum. (If she'd sent the actual before picture her mum would have had a heart attack.) This dress was a lot like James- gorgeous inside and out.

* * *

That evening, Lily twirled around in front of the mirror in the dress. 

"It's perfect!" Lily cried. 


	10. The wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding

On the day of the wedding, Lily woke up feeling queasy and sat up, looking over at her dress and got up. She went to brush her teeth, thinking it all over. The last week was a busy time, with her and James moving all of their possessions into the cottage and setting up the wedding marquee. Lily started to have doubts, worrying about all the possible things that could go wrong. She went back into her bedroom, only to find that Marlene was giving her dress a last minute check up. 

“Yep, all good!”Marlene announced, slipping the dress over Lily and checking all over. “C’mon, Lils, why don’t you live a little?” She helped Lily with makeup and everything else, before going to change into her floaty pale periwinkle blue dress. 

* * *

_At the marauders’ flat._

James gulped. He turned once in front of the mirror, checking himself up and down, before confirming that he was fine, and walked out. Remus and Sirius were sitting at the table, talking. 

“Why so green, Prongs?” Sirius smirked.

”It’s not your wedding, if it was, you’d be looking the same as me!” James said, defensively.

”Prongs, I don’t have hair the same as yours, otherwise the ladies won’t even look at me!”

”haha, very funny” James snapped peevishly.

”oh, come on, Prongs, have some breakfast before we head over,”Remus bribed. James sighed and sat down. 

“I can think of at least 15 things that could go wrong,” James worried, “this needs to go perfectly, what if something goes wrong?”

“It won’t go wrong, Prongs! You spent months planning this, It can’t possibly go wrong. gee! Look at the time, we’d better get along and get all the guest in their seats!” Sirius leapt up and grabbed his fiend by the arm and forced him up, falling a deaf ear to his protestations and Remus grabbed his other arm. They dissaparated, coming out to the reception hall, which was decked with wreaths and photos, with moving people waving up at them, and laughing, without a care in the world.

* * *

That day, at one o’clock, when guests started arrive, the other three marauders guided people to their seats, which had a wedding programme on. James himself was panicking, straightening his bow tie. Lily, on the other hand, was in her new home, with everyone fussing over her. heels on and tiara on, she hopped into a car and drove over to to the marquee feeling sick and nervous to the bone. the wedding started at 3:45, with a few late comers. James’ relatives were looking at him with respect as Lily’s mother and father sat whereas Petunia and Vernon sat in the corner, looking absolutely pissed and scared to be there, a place full of witches and wizards. James stood at the front, looking like he wanted to get this over with. When Lily walked down the aisle, he felt like he had fallen in love all over again. Light blush on her cheeks, and a bouquet with lilies and roses. Marlene ahead of her, her youngest cousin (a little girl aged around 7-8) a the flower girl, swinging lily petals over the red carpet, a few cousins of James, as the bridesmaids, as well as Mary, Alice and Hestia. When she reached the stand she looked at him with happiness in her eyes. The two exchanged vows, then rings and kissed. It was a brief kiss, but here would be time for more later. A tall wizard strode over and announced, 

“may you all stand up, please,”

And they all did so, older woman grumbling as they did so. He waved his wand and the walls of the marquee vanished (Petunia and her husband looked scandalised, even though it wasn’t their wedding). He waved his wand once more and tables with white tablecloths appeared as waiters and butlers arrived out of no where and started moving around, handing people butter beers and firewisky. Petunia took this moment to disappear with Vernon, as her mother was distracted. Lily old hardly care, she had just got arrived and th only thing that mattered to her at the moment, was James. The newly wedded couple disappeared under a shower of well-wishers and hugs. they received all sorts o presents, a photo album, a vase, photos with silver frames, the lot. They snagged a large table and drank, laughed and chatted. Music came on, and Lily and James moved towards the dance floor. The wedding went late into the night but lily could hardly care. The wedding only ended at sunrise, when everyone was tired and went home. Lily and James went to their new home, which looked welcoming, even in the partially lit road. Jame s dragged her into it, shutting the door behid him. They went upstairs and finally went to bed together...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand, they have sex together. Not surprising, they’re married! but I’m still bored 😐


	11. pregnancy never leaves you flawless.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily becomes pregnant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay safe, the lot of you.

A year after their wedding, James and Lily had met lots of other witches and wizards, including Bathilda Bagshot, the author of _The History Of Magic._ A week later after James and Lily's first honeymoon, Lily woke up to an empty bed and a note. 

_Lily_

_I know that you're going to be mad at me, but there was an urgent message in the middke of the night, asking for me to come immediately. They told me to tell you that YOU MUST STAY AT HOME. I cannot express this enough._

_Love,_

_James._

Lily sighed and got out of bed. She felt a sudden urge to vomit. No. _no._ Surely not. She went running to the bathroom and closed the door and grabbed a bucket just in time to meet the green, lumpy-like waterfall. That wasn't the only one. Three more waves came, one after the other. When she was quite certain it was over she picked up her wand and cleaned up the mess and smell. She had lost her appetite. She sighed and went to get changed and went downstairs as a little _pop_ sounded. A figure was walking up the little pathway. Lily automatically raised her wand and ran towards the hall. The key clicked in the lock, and a maybe-fake-James walked through the ages the door, wand up as well. They cautiously looked at each other and James said, 

"Ask the question, then, Lily, we haven't got all day!" Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes. 

"What did my parents give to us as a wedding present?" Lily asked. 

"Practically an entire library" James said, "Why did Yaxely get suspended for a month?" 

"Because she cursed me with dark magic," Lily answered, lowereing her wand. James nodded. They say down next to each other, and Lily recounted the earlier events and voiced her fear to James, who was as pale as she was. 

"Well, we can do a test, seeing as you hadn't had your period for a long time," James mused. 

He took out his wand and muttered something. A good circle appeared in Lily's abdomen. Lily's eyes widened in fear. 

"Well,... Pros: we've got a kid, Cons: this may not be the time to have one..." Lily said, shakily.

* * *

Lily was now forbidden to partake in any Order missions and was understandably annoyed about this. In her 9th month, she thought she was ugly, ugly as hell, as James still thought she was as beautiful as ever. Their parents had been informed and they were happy, aaaand a little nervous. Ok, they were super nervous. The prophecy had been made, and James and Lily had gone into hiding. The fidelius charm performed, and in hiding. The due date had passed, and the end of June was just a day away. James had stressed over her, getting all the needs the baby, who had been named Harry ( _for the last time_ James, I'm not calling him, "Proof I Had Sex With Lily Evans"), water made sure was running smoothly, and towels at the ready. That night, Lily went to bed feeling sick and nervous. She was woken up at 4 o clock in the morning, the baby kicking harder than ever. She cried out in pain, waking up James, who shot bolt upright and yelled even louder. A little plant of pain was blossoming rapidly, unlike any other. She tossed and turned, moaning. James sent a messenger patronus to all his friends, telling them to come quickly, Peter telling them that he couldn't be there and sent his luck to Lily. After Sirius and Remus was checked, they rushed into the room, to see Lily shrieking in pain. A healer flooed in, asking to see Lily. She went in, and assured her everything was alright. By midnight, the newest member of the Potter was born. The parents rushed over to see him, and marveled at the way he looked so much like James but had Lily's eyes. Euphamia and Emma were crying with happiness, and Fleamont and Harrison were laughing and repeating like madmans, 

"We're granddads!" Everything was in a state up happiness. Lily sat in bed, Harry in her arms and rocking him to sleep. He occasionally woke up and once tried to grab at Lily's hair. All was perfect in that moment. 


End file.
